Day 6

Day 6

The Scripture

But woe to you Pharisees, for you tithe mint, rue, and every garden herb, yet bypass justice and the love of God. It is necessary to do these things without neglecting the others. – Luke 11:42

Heart Thought

When something is necessary or a necessity it means that it is basic for life. It is necessary for a fish to stay in water to live. It is necessary for humans to breathe air to live. It is necessary to have gravity to stay firmly attached to the ground. If it is necessary then you must have it, it is not optional.

There is a danger in thinking something that is necessary can be replaced by doing other necessary things. Imagine the child who says, “I will breath air but I will not eat food.” Or imagine the person who would say, “I will put four tires on my car but not gas in the tank.” We know that the child needs food and air and the car needs gas and four tires.

I have heard it said sometimes amongst followers of the Messiah, “I have the gift of giving but I don’t have the gift of mercy.” Or, “I can give of my time to help people but I can’t give of my money.” Yeshua says, “It is necessary to do one without neglecting the other.” Sure, you may have a spiritual gift that is a strength in giving, or mercy, or justice but that does not give you a pass to do the other necessary things. You might have a strong gift of prayer but that does not mean you can neglect caring for the sick. You may have a strong gift of caring for the sick but that does not mean you can neglect being generous.

Yeshua says we are to be as good in one necessary thing – tithing – as we are in other necessary things – justice and the love of God. While much of modern literature encourages focus. Focus on your strength, focus on your gift, focus on one area to the exclusion of another, Yeshua says focus on all of what is necessary regardless of your strength or ability to do it. When we are doing this then we are fully experiencing the kind of life that God takes pleasure in completely and not just in part.

Prayer

May you become strong in all that necessary for a blessed spiritual life. May the Ruach Ha-Kodesh of God give you strength in your inner-man to do all that is necessary and not just part of what is necessary. In your doing, may the God of Israel increase your strength and increase the harvest of your efforts.

For the Feed

Yeshua says we are to be as good in one necessary thing – tithing – as we are in other necessary things – justice and the love of God. While much of modern literature encourages focus. Focus on your strength, focus on your gift, focus on one area to the exclusion of another, Yeshua says focus on all of what is necessary regardless of your strength or ability to do it. When we are doing this then we are fully experiencing the kind of life that God takes pleasure in completely and not just in part.